A moment in the life of an idiot
by Titanmaster 117
Summary: The life of an idiot is always a weird and interesting one. Filled to the brim with moments of clarity, family, distress, happiness, and sadness. These are just a few of those moments (Prequel to the BNTU universe).
1. Playing around

Akihisa was always a silly little child. Even if he didn't know what the word meant. Then again, who isn't silly when they're 5 years old?

Take today, for example. He and his bestest best friend in the whole wide world, Nacalie, were in her big back garden at her big house, playing 'zoom zoom tag is fun', and 'space warrior', and other fun things. He loved playing with Nacalie. He loved playing in general. He also liked chocolate. Chocolate was nice. But Nacalie wasn't chocolate, which would probably have been a good thing, because she would've probably melted since it was so hot, and then he wouldn't have had a bestest friend in the whole wide world, and that would be very sad.

"Tag!" Akihisa felt a hand tap his shoulder, and looked to his not left to see Nacalie running away from him, a wide smile on her face, her arms in the air as she ran, and her long blue hair waving shining in the sunlight. She was pretty, the little 5 year old Akihisa could say with all of the confidence in the world.

"Hey, no fair!" Akihisa said, though he was still had a happy face on his face, as he began to run after his best friend, "How'd you get me?"

"Easy. Every time we play 'Zoom zoom tag is fun'-"

"Hey, I copyrighted the name! You have to give me money every time you say or invent your own!"

"Whenever we play 'Aki doesn't understand how trademarks work', you go all quiet, stand still, and gaze off into the distance!"

Nacalie was right. Akihisa did have a particular habit of-

"See! You're doing it right now!"

"J'ACCUSE SOCIETY!"

"You do have a habit of gazing off into the distance, Aki", said Big Sis Akira, who had put her pink lemonade on the small table next to her, and was watching the 2 hyperactive little 5 year olds run around like the little monkeys that they were. Not that she could say much, though. She was only 11 years old herself, and still a hyperactive little rugrat. Case in point, she ran up to her little brother from behind him, jumped down and wrapped her arms around him, and pulled him off the ground, both of them giggling and laughing all of the time, "Yay, I caught my baby brother! Looks like I win!"

"Aw, you got me, Big Sis!" Akihisa giggled, and he felt himself get taken of the ground, and flown around as Akira spun around on the spot, "Weeeeee!"

Akihisa started flailing his arms around, making it hard for Akira to keep hold of him without accidentally dropping him. Luckily, this 11 year old was the man with a plan. Or rather girl with a plan, in this case, "Aki, if you don't stop fidgeting, I'll have to give you a little kiss!"

"Oh no!" giggled Akihisa, pretending to be scared, "Not a kiss from Big Sis!" he liked it when Big Sis kissed him. It made him feel loved. It showed him that she loved him as much as he loved her.

Akira put her baby brother down, turned him around, knelt down, and gave him a little, yet loving, kiss on his cheek. Akihisa giggled and laughed in response, and gave her a kiss on the cheek as well, only he exaggerated the sound of it, going, "Mmmmmmmmwwwhhha!" they both then started laughing and hugged each other, Akihisa still jumping up and down slightly, and Akira just cherishing the moment.

Nacalie, however, was having none of it. Akihisa's bestest friend had a tendency to get a bit jelly when he displayed loving affection to others that wasn't her, and today was no different from any other day. She quickly stomped over to the hugging brother and sister, trying to look scary and not adorable (And failing), pulled Akihisa away from his elder sister, and kissing him quite forcefully on the cheek.

"Er, Nacalie, what are you doing?" innocently asked Akihisa, who still smiled, yet also mixed it in with a confused look.

Nacalie didn't immediately respond. Instead, she just kept it up for a few more moments, until she parted her lips from her best friend's cheek, and said, "There! See! That there is proof that I love you more! If she loved you more, than she would kiss you like that more, so hmph!" she wore a pout on her face as she spoke.

 _That's cute_ , thought Akihisa, _Nacalie's funny and cute to watch._

"Aw, are you jealous?" innocently asked Akira to Nacalie, as she hugged Akihisa from behind.

"Wha- NO!... Maybe... a little", replied Nacalie, displaying a lot of understanding of relationships for a 5 year old, strangely.

"Aw", replied Akira teasingly, "C'mere", she giggled as she walked up to Nacalie, knelt down, and kissed her on the cheek. She then pulled her head away, and said, "There. Feel better now?" Nacalie blushed for a second, before erupting into a burst of laughter, followed by Akira bursting into laughter as well. Akihisa just looked at the both of them, perfectly still, and with a neutral expression on his face. The 2 girls noticed this after a while, and Akira was the first one to say something, "Aki, what's up?"

"That's disgusting", replied Akihisa.

"Hm?"

"When 2 boys, or 2 girls kiss each other, it's disgusting. Mama and papa said so", Akihisa said this all bluntly and clearly, but with no real understanding of the subject.

"Aki, that's not a nice thing to say", replied Akira.

"And it's not true", commented Nacalie, with concern in her eyes.

"But mama and papa said it", said Akihisa innocently. The 2 girls in front of him just looked at each other, filled with worry and concern, as Akihisa innocently said, "And mama and papa knows what's best."


	2. Weekend at Burnie's

Nacalie was a lot smarter than the average 6 year old, but that... Well, that didn't always mean she was the first one to seek advice from. It also doesn't mean that she's the first one that you can rely on in a sudden situation.

Case in point; One day, in first grade, Akihisa's homeroom teacher- Miss Sato- had come in a just a wee bit drunk. Now, logically, she could've been the responsible type of drunk, and seen herself out for the day, before she did any harm to her students, but, being a blackout drunk that she was, she collapsed onto the floor, open sake bottle in hand now leaking alcohol onto the floor (How did she sneak that thing in?), and mouth open and drooling onto the carpet.

Naturally, being children, the collective of 6 year olds came to the logically sound conclusion that she was, in fact, dead.

"AH! What'd we do!?" yelled a panicking Akihisa as he and a few of his peers gathered around their supposedly deceased teacher. Some of their other peers were still sitting quietly at their desks, unsure of what was going on- One of them, a girl with long purple hair, purple eyes, and pale skin, just continued doing her written work. Akihisa remembered that her name was 'Shoko', or something, and he had overheard one of her parents tell their teacher she was 'Altistic', or something or other- some were running around the room, panicking, and unsure of what to do, a few had secluded themselves in the corner of the room and were crying- a girl with pink hair and allergy problems being the loudest of them all- and one of the 6 year olds had tasted the sake that was on the floor, but found it disgusting, and puked in the same corner that their fellow peers was in, leading to a rather nasty sight and smell, and even more crying.

"I don't know! I wanna go home!" yelled a girl next to him- Tamano Miki, Akihisa thought her name was- who was jumping up and down on the spot, though this was more attributed to panic, rather than hyper activeness.

"We all wanna go home, Tama", yelled back Akihisa, "But right now- Tsuchiya, stop looking up her gosh darn skirt! She's our teacher for flipping heck sake!"

"...Un."

"Ugh, thank goodness you're not a friend of mine. How on earth would I be able to put up with you?"

"Yoshii, now not time!" yelled another girl in broken Japanese- Ogawa Mayumi, or was it Mayura?- who had short brown hair, and hazel coloured eyes, "What we do?"

"I don't know! I'm not a master genius, you know!"

"That very obvious."

"I ain't in the mood for no sass, lady!"

"Aki, she's right", said one of the Kinoshita twins, the one who just spoke being the lively and enthusiastic one, while her twin sister stood behind her, acting quiet and shy, as always, "Our teacher is dead, and we need to give her an awesome funeral!"

"Should not we give teacher to adults?" asked Ogawa, "We be in trouble if do not."

"...Un."

"That yes or no, Tsuchiya?"

"Guy, enough mucking about!" went Nacalie firmly, pointing a finger to nowhere in particular, "If we're all seen with a dead teacher here, we'll be in trouble, but we'll be in even more trouble if we don't do something!"

"You have plan?"

"Do you doubt me, Ogawa?"

"Well, last time you came up with plan, people die."

"The only winner that day was medicine", said Tama, "Thank goodness we now know that curling irons aren't edible."

"""""Amen."""""

"Guys, you're being mean!" whined Nacalie, "Trust me, this is gonna be the most amazingest plan ever to grace the planning lands of planningty plannington!"

"Alright then", said the lead Kinoshita twin, "Let's here it."

"I reckon we can Weekend at Burnie's this."

"""""Huh?"""""

"Adults are idiots, guys, you've all seen enough movies, and books, and TV shows, and internet memes (Nyan cat for the win) to know what I'm talking about! If it works in the movies, it'll work in real life!"

Tsuchiya spoke up, "...That could-"

"AH!" jumped Tama, "Sorry, I didn't know you could talk!"

"...Your plan could work, Nacalie."

"Ah, see, there we are. Someone who believes in my skill and intellect", said Nacalie proudly, "Right then, you 2!"

"Us 2?" asked the lead Kinoshita twin, indicating to herself and her shy twin sister.

"Yes, you 2, grab Miss Sato's legs, Ogawa and Tsuchiya, grab her waist, Aki, grab her right arm, and I'll grab her left!"

"Roger that!"

"Sure thing!"

"..."

"...Un"

"Yay, viking funeral!"

Everyone then grabbed what they were told to take hold off, but Tama then asked, "Wait, what do I do?"

"Oh right", said Nacalie as she picked up her designated limb, "Well, you'll be-"

"Oh, are you leaving me in charge?"

"You? Yeah. You'll be responsible for making sure nobody else dies. And also making sure nobody tastes that weird liquid stuff on the ground."

"Yay! I'mma be a princess!"

"Sure thing. Meanwhile, the rest us will go down to the vent near the end of the corridor. Once there, I'll find the security camera system, and take them out, while the rest of you pry open the grid blocking the vent off, climb through, and drop down to the bottom floor, and we'll regroup down there, taking out any guards we see all Spy Kids style along the way, all the while dodging the laser security grid using our super cool parkour ninja skills. Once on the bottom floor, we trick all of the adults into believing that Miss Sato is fine, and is letting us play outside. If this somehow doesn't work, we'll need to pop some tear gas and take out all of the adults there, allowing us to escape. Once outside, we'll grab some shovels and bury Miss Sato. Now, Ogawa, once we get outside you'll need to grab Miss Sato's phone and call up the Self Defence Force, and get them to bring us a helicopter. Once Miss Sato is buried, we'll climb up to the top of the school, where our extraction helicopter will be waiting for us, and then' we'll make our grand escape", finished off Nacalie, obviously forgetting that most, if not all of the stuff she just listed off is impossible for a 6 year old to accomplish, "Ya'll got it?"

"""Yeah!"""

"..."

"...Un."

"Right then, LET'S DO THIS!"

They barely made it down the corridor before a teacher spotted them. It turns out that adults are just a teeny tiny bit harder to fall than in media.

Miss Sato was fired for coming into school drunk.


	3. 2:46PM JST

When it hit Japan, it hit hard.

Since Fumizuki City was further south down Japan, quite a bit away from the Tōhoku region and Miyagi Prefecture, it wasn't affected by it. Not directly, anyways. However, it could be felt across the whole of Japan, and Fumizuki City was no exception. Akihisa could remember the exact moment of them feeling it, being 2:46PM JST. He remembered this because he was playing around with his classmates during one of their break times, and felt it right beneath him. He also remembered it, because in a few days, it would've been his birthday. It was also because when he got home, he received some... unsavoury news.

Akihisa couldn't understand why his sister and aunt were crying. He was 6 years old. How could he? All he knew was that something bad happened, and something shook the ground beneath him. His parents weren't any help. They were no different then they had been before. His mama was still screaming, and his papa was still drinking those drinks that he always brings home. In the end, it was his sister and aunt who'd explain what was going on.

His grandparents weren't very liked by his mama and papa, because of their differences in treatment. If anything, mama and papa only ever invited them over to family gatherings out of a sense of obligation. However, his grandparents had been in Sendai on this particular day, to see the zelkova trees there, and find a good gift for Akihisa for his birthday. They had even been face timing with Aunty Raven while in their car, driving down one of the costal roads, looking at the view.

And that's when the earthquake hit.

Akihisa didn't know all of the details. If Aunty Raven of Akira knew anything else, they didn't tell him. All Aunty Raven told him, through her own tears, was that when the earthquake hit, the connection went out. When it came back up, his grandparents were trapped in their car, and the following tsunami came and swept them away. If the impact didn't kill them first, the water drowned them. At least, that's what Akihisa could find out, through Aunty Raven's watered down version of it all.

No one heard back from them at all.

Akihisa didn't talk too much, for the next week. All he did was cry. Cry into the shoulders of his sister, aunt, and a few friends whom had too lost loved ones. Those same friends eventually all stopped talking to each other, after a while, choosing to go their own ways. Nacalie couldn't help Akihisa. He didn't give her a chance to do so. All he wanted to do was cry, hoping that those tears could bring back those he'd lost.

Akihisa never celebrated his birthday after that.


	4. Sleepover

"Papa was angry", said Akihisa quietly, as Nacalie wiped away a spot of blood on her best friend's face, and dried him with a towel as he laid on her bed, dampening the sheets. Seeing as he and his sister had run all the way from his home to Nacalie's big estate in the rain, it was no wonder he was drenched. The bruise and still raw cuts, however...

"That's not an excuse", said Nacalie firmly. She needed to find a way to get Raven take leave from her job. It was when Mr Yoshii was drunk when he was at his worst. Then again, he was always drunk, "He shouldn't be doing this. Your mother shouldn't be allowing this."

"I-it's okay", said Akihisa, unconvincingly, "H-he and mama were just mad that we didn't w-win the big games-"

 _The Olympics_ , Nacalie thought.

"-A-and it was my fault. I-I-I asked them something when they didn't want to talk. I deserved it-"

"Shut up", said Nacalie tearfully, as her face quivered at the sight of the one she loved the most in the universe in pain, "Just... Just stop. You don't deserve this. You don't deserve to be treated like this. You are not an animal, you are a person, you are a human, who deserves the love that you should've been given- The love you should be given- And not the hate that you're getting."

"B-but mama and papa knows what best-"

"No, they don't", a tear rolled down Nacalie's cheek, as she looked at her friend. She knew that he wouldn't change how he thought, but it was better to fail at doing the right thing then to succeed at doing the wrong.

Akihisa didn't say anything. In his head, he should know that what she was saying was true, but his parents had filled him with so many lies, that any sow of love that he got from her was broken down, and destroyed by the decayed innards of his own mind. Nacalie knew this, and knew that, until he grew up to a better understanding of the world, he would continue to be poisoned by their sick mentality.

Nacalie sighed, and slid off of the bed. Akira would be coming out of the shower, and she'd need to get her a-

A hand grabbed hers, and Nacalie looked behind her to see that Akihisa had a firm, unbreakable grasp on her hand, refusing to let go, as a tear fell down his red and hurt face.

"P-please", whimpered Akihisa, quietly, and filled with sadness, "Don't... Don't leave me..."

Nacalie didn't say anything else. With a comforting smile, she just climbed back onto the bed, and buried herself under the covers, huddling up close to her friend. All she could do was comfort him, before he quickly fell to sleep. When he did, she then allowed herself to be enveloped by the soft lull of sleep as well, shutting her eyes, and allowing her mind to drift away into the vast ocean of her subconscious.

When Akira came into the room, dripping wet from the shower, she looked, with a soft rush of sadness, to Nacalie and Aki soundlessly sleeping in bed, in each other's arms. Every time her little brother came to harm, it felt like a knife had stabbed into her own chest, eating her away from within. The 13 year old girl let herself shed a tear, for just a moment, before composing herself, and coming to a decision. She then climbed onto the bed and under the covers, climbing close to her brother, and wrapping her arms around him as she let sleep take her away. Soon, she would be able to join her brother in sleep, and protect him from all of the monsters that the mind stored away. On her sleepy face, she wore a smile. A sad smile. A proud smile.

They knew no nightmares that night. Only the sweetest of dreams.


	5. Field trip

Field trips were the best kind of school activities. It was one of those few days where Akihisa and the rest of his class didn't have to worry about school work, or tests, or whatever. One of the few days where the teachers could let the 8 year olds under their care just have a bit of fun and muck about for a day, instead of just sitting inside a dull prison for a learning institution memorising stuff that 90% of the time would never even have any relevance in their lives. So, when the teachers informed their respective year that they were going to a nature reserve for a day, as part of a biology project or something, Akihisa and most of the rest of his peers were ecstatic. To be honest, however, the collective children did have their suspicions about it. Why have a field trip so early in the month? Why have one so early in the year, for that matter?

The teachers didn't need to tell their students that this was all to take their minds and sorrows away from what happened in Boston.

So, when they got there, they were all split up into their classes, and their teachers gave them all sheets that they had to fill out. Naturally, none of them actually did anything with the sheets, apart from turn them into paper planes and toss them around at each other. Apart from that, everything was going as right as they could, with each class seeing all of the animals that the nature reserve had to offer, seeing flowers, Asian Pandas, Japanese bears and macaques, Amani hares, and several more, the children looking at awe at the animals.

Until one of the Kinoshita twins went off on a jaunt.

Akihisa and 2 others were the only ones who noticed and cared enough to go look for her, one of the others being Tsuchiya, the class and school pervert, and the other being a red haired and eyed boy with an incredibly smug attitude, called Sakamoto.

Naturally, they didn't like each other. What, with their completely incompatible personalities and all.

"Why am I stuck with you 2 idiots?" said Sakamoto rather arrogantly, not even bothering to hide his smug attitude as they trudged through the fauna and trees of the surrounding forest.

"Because we're the only ones who bothered to try and find Kinoshita", replied Akihisa, before a twig slapped him in the face, "Owwy."

"...Un", grunted Tsuchiya in response.

"I know why, moron", said Sakamoto, apparently not having that much in the way of patience.

"Then why did you ask?" responded Akihisa.

"...Un."

"It was a rhetorical question", said Sakamoto.

"A what question?"

"Rhetorical."

"Retearichal?"

"Rhetorical."

"What's a retearichal?"

"Whatever", said Sakamoto. He really didn't want to stay 8 years old and be surrounded by people who were intellectually beneath him.

"Wait, what's a retearichal? I wanna know."

"I don't care."

"I do care."

"...Un." grunted Tsuchiya.

"Wait, are you agreeing with me, or disagreeing? I can't tell."

"You 2, shush", ordered Sakamoto, as he looked through a bush into a clearing of dirt and grass. Akihisa and Tsuchiya joined him in looking through the bush, and before they asked, he said, "I thought a heard something", a few moments later, a young girl ran into the clearing, jumping up and down as she chased a butterfly, with a wide smile plastered on her face. The 3 boys immediately recognised her, "Kinoshita!" yelled Sakamoto, "What're you doing?"

"I'm chasing a butterfly!" yelled back Kinoshita.

"Why?"

"Because I wanted to!"

"Well get over here! We need to get back to the rest of the group."

"Mmmmmmm no."

"What?"

"No."

"What the- why?!"

"You didn't say please!"

"Would you please get-"

"Nope, too late, had your chance. Bye", went Kinoshita before she started giggling, and ran off out of the clearing, and back into the thick fauna.

Sakamoto was starting to lose patience, "Why you jumpy piece of-"

"Let's get after her!" yelled Akihisa, before he and Tsuchiya ran off in the direction of Kinoshita, leaving an exasperated Sakamoto to catch up with them. Once he caught up with the 2 boys, they then started coming up with ideas on how to catch Kinoshita. Well, it was less like a discussion, and more Sakamoto shooting down their ideas and using his own, and the other 2 just going along with it.

They tried to run and catch her.

Didn't work.

They tried to encircle her.

Didn't work.

They tried to lure her out into a trap, using Sakamoto's snack at as bait.

Didn't work.

They tried to impersonate a teacher.

Didn't work.

They tried to bait her out, then jump out of a tree and pin her down.

3 guesses as to how that went, and the first 2 don't count.

"Owwy", whimpered Akihisa as he rubbed his head, as a bruise started to form, "That hurt."

"Well", stubbornly went Sakamoto, as he pulled a splinter from his arm, "If it- Ouch- if the plan didn't work, then you weren't doing it right."

"Or maybe the plan was stupid."

"What the- I'm the smartest student in our grade- no, our school! How can I make up something stupid!?"

"Just because you're smart doesn't mean you're right!"

"What does that mean!?"

"You're smart! You figure it out!"

"...Oooohhhh", went Tsuchiya.

"Butt out of this, Tsuchiya!" yelled Sakamoto.

"Hey, don't yell at him!" went Akihisa, "He's done nothing wrong!"

"He's been a complete idiot over the last hour! Just like you!"

"Wha- Oh, you know what!" You were never nice to begin with! You think that just because your smarter than us, that makes you better than us!"

"I had assumed so."

"Well, how many people actually talk to you, Sakamoto? How many friends do you actually have?"

"I don't need friends."

"You can keep saying that, but if you're so smart, then you should know that nobody ever wants to talk to you because you treat everyone around you like they're less than human, and that they don't even exist! Nobody likes you, because you act like a big meanie to everyone!"

"Because everyone else is insufferable!"

"Because you never even try to talk to them!"

"Oh ho ho, that does-"

"Friends?"

The 3 boys turned their heads to their side, to see Kinoshita standing there, looking at them with a sad expression on her face.

"Why are you fighting?" she asked, "I don't like it when people fight."

"...We were fighting because... I don't know, we just were", said Akihisa. He wasn't sure if he was lying, or telling the truth, but he figured that it didn't really matter, "I think it was because we couldn't get you to follow us back to the group."

"I thought we were playing", said Kinoshita, as she walked up to them, her trousers getting caught on a branch, though she didn't notice, "I didn't know you were being serious."

"Ah, it's okay. As they say, water under the house, or something", Sakamoto shot Akihisa a glare, but he didn't know if it was because of what he said, or if he got the saying wrong, "Besides, did you have fun?"

"...Yeah", she gave him a warm smile as she said this, "I did."

"Well then, that's good. Wouldn't want you to have fun", he then turned around, and started to walk back through the fauna, "Come on. We should probably head back now."

The others began to follow him quietly, trudging through the leaves, branches and bushes, before Kinoshita said, "Hideyoshi."

"Huh?"

"My name is Kinoshita Hideyoshi."

"Huh, nice to meet you, Kinoshita Hideyoshi. I'm Yoshii Akihisa."

"... Tsuchiya Kouta", said Tsuchiya quietly, while covertly googly eyeing Kinoshita.

" _Sigh_ , I'm Sakamoto Yuuji", caved Sakamoto, "Why are we introducing ourselves?"

"Because it's polite, and it also paves the way for us to become friends with each other", said Akihisa, acting like he had forgotten their previous argument.

"Us? Friends?" went Sakamoto, as he looked over the 3 people around him, " _Pfft_. Yeah right."

"Aw, come on, 3 guys and a gal. It could be the next big thing. Even bigger than that ridiculously photogenic guy meme-"

What Kinoshita said next completely caught them off guard, "I'm a boy."

"""Lies."""

The teacher immediately told them all off when they got back, their parents were notified, and they were given detention. Turns out, one can't just slip back into a group, and expect no one to notice.

The more you know.

* * *

 **Why is nobody but CazyPhuc reviewing my oneshots/story?**


	6. A lesson in a game

"AAAHHH! CLICKER! CLICKER! CLICK- I'm dead", went the 9 year old Akihisa as he put down his controller, slightly disappointed in himself, "Stupid mushroom head zombies..."

"My turn", said Nacalie, as she swiped the controller, and waited for the loading screen to end. "Also, we don't use the Z word. The Last of Us doesn't use the Z word."

"Zombies?"

"No, don't use that word. That's the Z word. That a word that we don't use while playing the Last of-"

"Zombie at 5 O'clock."

"Wha- AUGH!" yelled Nacalie as she let Joel be eaten by a clicker on the screen, "Damn it."

"Does it really matter about what they're called", asked Akihisa as he gestured for the controller, "I mean, we know they're zombies, so why not just call them zombies?"

"Well, technically they're not zombies."

"But they're undead and eat people."

"Yes, but they're not actually undead. They're infected with a mutated strain of the Cordyceps fungus."

"Cory what?"

"Not Cory in the House. Cordyceps. It's a fungus that infects insects and controls their bodies to spread."

"So if it turns insects into zombies, then it-"

"No, no, the infected insects aren't dead. They just keep carrying the fungus until they eventually die."

"Okay, so if it can infect insects, it can infect people. I've never noticed them say that in the cutscenes."

"Well, they don't. It's scientific knowledge."

"What?"

"It's well known that Cordyceps can infect insects."

"Wait, was there a lore bit or piece of dialogue that I missed or something?"

"No, in real life, it's well known that Cordyceps infects insects."

"Wow, lore about this game spreads quickly."

"No, in real life, Cordyceps infects insects, and everyone knows this-"

"Wait, it's real?"

"Yep."

"The Cory in the House mushroom plague is real?"

"Mm-hm."

"And they can turn people into zombies?"

"What? No, it can't-"

Akihisa then hugged Nacalie tightly, a tear beginning to well up in his eye, as he wailed, "I don't wanna turn into a mushroom zombie! I wanna stay with you, forever, like you promised!"

Nacalie rolled her eyes and looked at Akihisa as he hugged her tightly. She smiled gently, and began to pat his head, as she cooed, "Hey, it's okay. Don't cry, my little angel. I'll keep you safe. I won't let anyone or anything hurt you."

"...Promise?"

"I promise, my angel."

Akihisa smiled and giggled, comforted by the reassurance of his best friend. They stayed together like that for about 10 minutes, joined together in mutual care for each other, before Nacalie noticed that her best friend had fallen asleep in her arms.

A smile formed on her lips. This time though, it was a different smile. It was a smile that betrayed Nacalie's innocent exterior, and hid behind it secrets locked away to everyone but herself.

Nacalie looked down to Akihisa, and whispered gently into his ear...

"We'll be together forever."


	7. Wake up

_Where am I?_

His eyes slowly fluttered open. The light was blinding. Searing. It felt like it was burning his eyes.

His ears picked up a noise. Then another. Then more and more. The noise became deafening.

Then, the loud, horrible noises stopped, relieving him of the madness, only to be replaced by 2 repeating patterns: beeping, and sobbing.

His head hurt. His head hurt a lot.

No, that wasn't it. His head felt... Empty. It felt like his mind had been broken down, and couldn't be held together at all.

He felt tired. He was tired. He was so tired. He couldn't find the energy to move a single...

What was it called again?

He couldn't remember. He tried to remember, but he just couldn't. Then, a small fear emerged in his mind. So, in hopes of proving himself wrong, he tried to remember a simple maths equation, and it's answer.

Nothing. Nothing at all.

His fear was realised.

A soft yet sudden flash of memories came to him, but none of them were enlightening.

The searing light ceased it's endless onslaught, and his eyes readjusted. He could now see his surroundings. He was in a white room, with a curtain covering one of the walls. He was laying on a bed, and he could feel a thin cover over him.

He felt a prick in his right arm, and looked to it to see that there was a needle sticking into his arm, connected to something that one would find in a hospital.

A hospital. He was in a hospital.

His head hurt more now. He felt something covering it up. He tried to move his arm, but a hand stopped it. He looked to his arm, to see Nacalie holding it down. Her eyes pleaded with him, her face red, and covered in tears.

All Akihisa could do was lay in silence.

All the 10 year old boy could do was silently lament that he was still alive.


	8. Go

Akihisa looked to his phone and started swiping. He was determined to catch this Torracat and show it off to Hideyoshi. The 11 year old knew that Hideyoshi was addicted to this game like him, and he/she'd be so jealous to see that he'd caught his/her favourite Pokémon and he/she didn't.

{SWIPE}

Nope.

{SWIPE}

Nada.

{SWIPE}

Seriously?

{SWIPE}

C'mon.

{SWIPE}

C'mon!

{SWIPE}

C'MON!

{SWIPE}

GET IN THE POKEBALL!

{SWIPE}

And it's run off. Great. Joyful. Really.

Akihisa huffed, and groaned. He looked to his phone. He still had at least one pokeball, before he had to spend his precious pokecoins on getting more. Either that, or he'd have to spend actual money on them. He was sure that Nacalie wouldn't mind. Then again, this was her phone, so maybe she would.

Akihisa looked to the map. If there was another of those Torracats nearby, he'd have to be very careful not to-

THERE WAS A PIKACHU NEARBY!

HE MUST HAVE IT!

Akihisa ran as fast as his little legs could carry him. That Pokémon would be his, and he would be damned if he didn't get it.

Soon, he got to the location of the Pikachu.

Small problem though.

It was in behind someone's house, in their back garden.

...

Well then.

Akihisa looked to the phone, and then to the house in front of him, and then to the phone, and to the house in front of him, and then to the phone, and to the house in front of him.

"... Pikachu? Or... Police?" he asked himself out loud, "Pikachu or police? Pikachu or police?"

He looked to his phone once more, and then back to the house in front of him.

"... Pikachu."

He ran from the street and over the front garden of the house. He then climbed up a tall wooden gate that separated him from the house's back garden, all ninja like, and silently tiptoed down a little path that led to the garden, all Metal Gear Solid style. Once he got to the end of the path, he looked past a wall, and into the garden. Empty. He then looked to his phone, to see if the Pikachu was still there.

There it was. Ripe for the taking.

Akihisa jumped out, rolled across his belly onto the open garden, got up, and locked eyes with the Pikachu on his phone. Time began to slow down, as he planned his stratagem, on how to catch this legendary Pokémon. He swore he could hear battle music playing in the background.

He leapt forward, falling onto his belly. A distraction. The Pikachu would've never expected that.

He aimed his phone at the Pikachu.

One Pokeball left.

One swipe.

Heh.

One swipe was all he needed.

{SWIPE}

…

OH COME ON!

"Ahem."

Uh oh.

Akihisa slowly turned his head, to see a middle aged woman glaring daggers at him, sitting on a chair on a patio, with a drink in hand. He was pretty sure he could make out an battle aura around her.

Oops.

"Um", began Akihisa, "There was a wild Pikachu in... Your, um, in your-"

"I'm calling the police."

Akihisa, seeing that as his time to go, ran to a wooden fence blocking off another garden.

So begins the see-if-this-wooden-fence-can-support-his-weight experiment.

Results may shock you.

Half an hour of running and pulling splinters out of his hands later, Akihisa stopped to catch his breath. Great. All his Pokeballs were gone, and he hadn't caught a single Pokémon all day. Not even a Pidgey. His friends were gonna mock him all day.

Great, now he just had to get home, and hang his head in shame at-

Wait.

Wait a minute.

Where was he?

He looked to a sign near him.

 _'You are now entering Sapporo'_.

...

...

...

...

He closed Pokémon Go, went into contacts, pressed on a phone number, and put it to his ear.

"Nacalie? I did it again."


	9. Then and now

She liked to reminisce.

Her mind liked to wonder. To look back. To remember all that she could.

All of the good.

All of the bad.

And everything in between.

* * *

 _She held him close, shielding him from the pain, like a warm blanket shielding away the cold. She could feel his tears stain and dampen her shirt, but she found that she didn't care._

 _He whimpered to her, like a sick puppy to it's mother, "W-Why?" his voice was quivering and broken. His face looked and felt like a red hot hearth. His hands clung to her chest harshly, his nails piercing through her shirt and digging into her skin. It almost hurt. His shaking voice was heard again, "W-Why d-did she leave? S-She's the... The... The...", there was a long pause, only punctuated by the sound of muffled crying, before she heard him say, "T-The only one who loved m-me. The only one who cared about m-me. T-T-The only one who m-m-made me feel usef-f-ful. Without her I-I'm nothing. Without h-h-her I'm u-u-useless! Wi-Wi-Without her I'm-I'm worthless!" he was almost shouting now._

 _She gently shushed him, and said, "Hey now. Ssshh. Don't say that. You're not useless. You're not worthless. You never were", she cooed to him, her gentle voice barely audible in the room around them, like a soft echo of dripping water in a vast ocean._

 _"B-B-But without her I-I-I can't do a-anything", his voice was fragile, and sounded more like a blubber now, "S-S-She was the oh-oh-only one who- Who cared about m-me. T-The only one w-who cared f-for me. I-If I wasn't so stupid, m-m-maybe she wou-wouldn't have left. Maybe I-if I wasn't so w-w-worthless, then she woul-wouldn't have l-left me alone!" she could hear his breathing grow louder. He was hyperventilating._

 _The 18 year old woman pulled her little brother closer, her arms cocooning him, her warmth like a protective membrane. She placed her hand on his head, and gently rubbed his shaggy, messy hair. She placed a kiss on his forehead, and whispered, "Don't say those things. Don't do that to yourself. You were never useless. You were never worthless. You're amazing. You're loved. You're the best little brother anyone could ask for. No one could ever replace you."_

 _"B-B-But no one cares ab-a-about me. No one-"_

 _"I love you."_

 _He seemed to flounder, and looked up at her. His eyes were red. Bloodshot. His face was as hot as magma, and as damp as a rainforest. She wouldn't have been surprised if she saw steam coming off of him._

 _"I love you so much, little brother", she purred. her voice like a gentle song, sung by a mother lulling an infant to sleep, "You're the best sibling I could ever ask for. The best sibling anyone could ask for. You're so much better than I deserve. So much better than this entire world deserves. You're brave. You're strong. You're kind. You're an angel, walking amongst us, purifying us with your gentle love."_

 _She pulled him up, and sat him on her lap. He now sat as high as her chest, and looked up to her. She smiled, and pulled him up further, pressing her forehead against him, their noses almost touching. She could feel his hot breath against her chin, his eyes looking right into hers, his hands now grasping into her arms, though with less pressure now. She could feel the dampness of her shirt begin to dry, and the pain from his grasp quickly fade away, replaced by a warmth in her chest._

 _"You're loved, my brother dearest. I love you. You're all that I need. You're all that I'll ever need. The light of my love for you is blinding. It's an ocean, which you can bathe in, forever and ever."_

 _She shifted herself, and planted another kiss on her brother dearest's cheek._

 _"I will love you, for always and always."_

 _He looked to her, and his eyes began to well up more. Then, he began to cry again, his face buried in her chest. His sobbing was muffled, and his arms wrapped around her, not wanting to let go. Not that she wanted him to let go. She wrapped her arms around the 12 year old boy, rubbing his back, and gently cooing him along, allowing him to let his sadness out._

 _Soon, the crying ceased. She gently whispered his name. No response. She lifted him up, and looked to him. His eyes were closed, his cheeks still wet and red, but it was fading. She leaned in, and was relieved when she could hear him breathing. He was asleep. He had worn himself out._

 _She looked to him, and placed her hand on his head. She traced his scar. His long, horrible, hideous scar. She saddened at the memory of how it got there. She didn't want what happened that day to happen again. She wanted to protect him. She wanted to hold him close, and never let go. She wanted to stay like this forever. Her, and her little brother dearest, wedded together, for all eternity..._

 _She looked to his face, and caressed his cheek. It was so smooth. So inviting. So tempting._

 _She couldn't help herself. She leaned in, and planted another kiss on his cheek. The warmth in her chest grew with each passing second. She kissed his forehead again, and then his other cheek, and then his nose. She hungrily kissed almost ever part of his face, wishing to forever be joined to him, and show him how much she loved him._

 _She stopped kissing him, and saw his lips. The last part of his face that she hadn't pecked. A representation of the final line. She knew she shouldn't cross it. She knew that if she did what she was about to do, then there would be no going back._

 _She found herself lacking an ability to care._

 _She planted her lips on his own, and began to savour the sensation of a kiss so magical it made the world stop. The sleeping boy never woke, which saddened some part of her. She didn't know how much time past, but eventually, she parted from him, her breath shallow, and almost silent._

 _She held her brother closer, yearning for his love. Yearning for his love for her to be equal to her love for him. She knew that would never happen, though. She knew that her forbidden feelings for him would never be returned._

 _She cared not though. All she wanted was to stay by his side. To be near him, to be able to love him, at the very least as the elder sister that she was meant to be. She wished to protect him, to shelter him, to be there when no one else could. If her feelings were never r_ _ecuperated, then that was fine._

 _As long as she could be there for him, that was all that she would ever need._

* * *

"Hey, Akira?" asked Akihisa, as he sat next to her on the couch, sharing conterminous with each other. The TV was on, but at the moment, neither of them paid it any heed. Akihisa continued on, "Just out of curiosity, what is it you do while I'm at Fumizuki Academy? I mean, how do you spend the time?"

Akira looked at him, wrapped her arm around him- He seemed put off by it. He looked so adorkable- and truthfully replied:

"I like to reminisce."


	10. CLONEWARSSAVED

Ah, internet surfing. It's amazing what you can find.

Seriously, it's amazing what you can find. Just type in a single word on Google, and one would get over 10,000 pages. True story.

Though, if he were to be honest, Akihisa had yet to find something that grabbed his interest. He'd just lost a flame war with a guy (How was he suppose to know that petulant wasn't a word for prunes?) and right now, he needed to find something to get the somewhat salty taste out of his mouth.

Same went for Hideyoshi, seeing as how he'd been backing him up as well, "Um, try fungal potato."

"Okay", hesitantly replied Akihisa, "K, fungal... Potat- Oh, there's a list of potato diseases. Huh."

"Google Images?"

"Google Imag- OH MY GOD!"

"Ugh, it looks like someone pooped out a kidney stone and set it on fire!"

"Back space, back space!"

They backspaced, and ended up back on the Google homepage.

"Ugh, okay", continued Akihisa, "Lets try something a little... Safer."

"Agreed."

"Okay. Let's try... Grammar... Bomb."

"How is 'Bomb' a safe word?"

"Would you rather look at kidney stone dropouts?"

"Google grammar bomb."

"Oki doki hoki poki. And... Boom", Akihisa pressed the hit key on the UPad, and waited a few moments before the search page came up, "Huh, even that has results."

"'Instant Grammar Checker'", muttered Hideyoshi as he read the first result, "Huh. Images?"

"Hm... Welp, there's a lot of images from Editing Addict, but-"

{BUZZ BUZZ}

"Eh?" Akihisa reached for his phone, and looked at the screen, "Notification from Kout- Noooooooooooooooooooooo…"

"What?" wondered Hideyoshi.

"He better not be messing with me..."

"What?"

Akihisa looked at Hideyoshi, dead in the eyes, and said, "Dude. There's a new Clone Wars trailer out."

"...What."

"There's a new Clone Wars trailer out."

Hideyoshi wasted no time, taking the UPad, and quickly going on the official YouTube page for Star Wars, seeing the trailer.

Approximately 2 minutes and 41 seconds later...

Akihisa looked at Hideyoshi.

Hideyoshi looked at Akihisa.

""...YyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-""

Hideyoshi's parents and sister ended up bursting into Hideyoshi's room, completely confused as too why they were screaming at 1AM in the morning. They were also completely confused at to why 2 13 year olds were running around in Stormtrooper outfits, practically bouncing up and down the walls, and waving light up Lightsabres around the place.

* * *

 **#CLONEWARSSAVED FOOLS! WOAH! ALL ABOARD THE HYPE TRAIN, BOYS AND GIRLS!**

 **My happiness right now... God is real and his name is Dave Filoni.**

 **Finally, Disney did give the fans something that they want. Something that we want.**


	11. How to not say goodbye

"Mm", muttered Akihisa uncomfortably, as he felt his elder sister hug him. He was... A wee bit aware of how she actually felt about him nowadays, and it would be a bit of a lie to say that it hadn't made him a bit uncomfortable around her. He continued, "Could you please stop?"

"Aw, but Aki", said Akira, as she drank in her 13 year old sibling's presence, "I won't be seeing you for a long time. I just want to be with you for a long as I can."

"Hm", Akihisa whined, "Sis, I don't wanna."

Akira loosened the embrace, and looked her younger brother, "Aw, you're so cute when you're angry."

"I am not cute!" Akihisa almost yelled, pouting at the same time, trying not to act cute, but failing in the most spectacular fashion.

"Now then, Aki", began Akira, quickly looking to Aunty Raven, whom stood next to her, and then back to Akihisa, "Aunty Raven's going to stay with you for a month or 2, just to teach you what to do, and how to live by yourself. However, there are, like I said before, 2 rules that I want you to remember. Can you tell me what they are?"

Akihisa's face went blank, as he tried to remember what those 2 rules was, "Um... Er…"

Akira giggled, and said with a smile on her face, "Aw, it's okay if you don't remember, little brother."

"Really?"

"Of course."

"Oh, thank goodness, because I definitely-"

"I'll just have to give you a little kiss", Akira shamelessly said, pouting her lips and leaning closer to Akihisa.

"I CAN ONLY PLAY VIDEO GAMES FOR 30 MINUTES A DAY AND ELICIT SEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS ARE FORBIDDEN!"

"...Oh Aki, you remembered. What joy."

"I CAN'T TELL IF YOU'RE BEING SERIOUS OR NOT!"

"Of course I'm serious. Why wouldn't I be serious about you remembering the 2 most important rules, preventing me from being able to kiss you?"

"CAN YOU PLEASE TELL ME IF YOU'RE BEING SERIOUS OR NOT!"

Aunty Raven tapped Akira on the shoulder, "It's time to go", the words fell gracelessly out of her mouth.

Akira's smile faded. Her arms fell from Akihisa's sides, her hands open and cold. Her eyes solemn, and almost tearful. She looked to her younger brother, and patted his head gently, his spiky hair falling gently against her open palm. Her words effortlessly parted from her mouth, "I'll see you again. I'll come back to Fumizuki and see you again."

"I dread the day you come back", no one was sure if Akihisa was being sarcastic, or just petulant. No one was sure if he even knew what sarcasm was.

"Don't say that", solemnly said Akira, "Please don't talk like that. You know I don't like it when you talk like that. You know I love you. You know I want the best for you. I know I act harsh sometimes, but I'm doing what's good for you. So please, don't talk like that."

Akihisa didn't say anything. He kept himself silent, looking down to his feet.

Akira stared at him silently for a few moments. Then, quickly as she could, she planted a kiss on her little brother's forehead. Akihisa squirmed, but did not pull away. Akira moved back, and got up from the wooden floor, grabbing her suitcase, and walking towards the door, Aunty Raven accompanying her.

As she opened the door, Akira spared a last glance to Akihisa, and called out, "I love you", before exiting the apartment, Aunty Raven following shortly after.

Akihisa didn't follow. He stayed in the house, quiet as anything. Not a word was heard. Not a word was spoken.

A small part of him felt relieved that Akira- His annoying big sister- Was gone. No more of her annoying kissing stuff, and all that. Especially none of that 'I-wanna-marry-you' stuff.

However, the bigger part of him was chastising him for not following. For not being there for her. Asking why didn't he follow, and say goodbye like a good little brother.

So, why didn't he?

Why didn't he say goodbye?

Why did he act mean to her?

Why wasn't he a good little brother?

Akihisa stayed sat where he was in the empty room. The silence was ear-piercing. The loneliness was engulfing him. He could hear a car drive off, into the distance, and then was gone forever.

All he could do was curl up into a ball, and curse himself for being so cruel.

All he could do was accept the fact that another part of his life was gone, and wonder where everything had gone so wrong.


	12. waifu War 3

**Inspired by the Steven Universe fan comic 'Waifu War'.**

* * *

 _The lake_ glistened _in the September light, as the setting sun dyed the sky a red and orange hue. The leaves of the trees were starting to lose their green colour, with a pale shade of orange consuming them. The first leaves had started to hit the ground, with a crisp orange leaf making a home for itself amongst the lily pads. The lake's still surface was occasionally disturbed by the ripple of a fish or the hard landing of a stone impacting with the watery haven._

 _Said stones were being thrown by Akihisa, whom was simultaneously keeping up with a conversation with his BFFs, Hideyoshi Kinoshita, Yuuji Sakamoto, and Kouta Tsuchiya. They were currently sitting on an old bench, watching the setting sun whilst they talked._

 _"No, I didn't find SAO interesting", continued Yuuji, as he looked to the others, "The plot is nonsensical, the characters are boring as hell, and- I'm no writer by the way, I'm just gonna say that out loud- But I feel in the right to say that the entire show is just garbage."_

 _"What?" began Akihisa, "How could you-"_

 _{THROW}_

 _{SPLASH}_

 _"-Not like SAO. I mean, sure, there are better shows out there, but-"_

 _{THROW}_

 _{SPLASH}_

 _"-It's not that bad."_

 _"Okay then", said Yuuji, "The Fairy Dance arc."_

 _"...Ah, I... See. Well, I mean, apart from... That... It's not that-"_

 _"Akihisa", began Kouta, whom was polishing the lens of a camera he had recently gotten hold of. It seemed that he was finally going to start indulging in that... Habit... Of his._

 _"Hello?" asked Akihisa, punctuating the last syllable with the sound of a stone hitting the water._

 _"...SAO abridged by Something Witty Entertainment."_

 _"Eh?"_

 _"...YouTube it."_

 _"Um, well, alright then."_

 _{THROW}_

 _{SPLASH}_

 _"Does it matter?" asked Hideyoshi, "I mean, it's still SAO. It's still terrible."_

 _"Hey! It's not that-"_

 _"It is that bad."_

 _"Awwwwww."_

 _"Well, I mean, SAO's pretty bad, but I mean, you've- As in we've- Still got-"_

 _"RWBY?"_

 _"RWBY."_

 _"Yeah, I guess."_

 _{THROW}_

 _{SPLASH}_

 _"Um, question?" began Yuuji, "Who's Ruby?"_

 _"Not who. What", began Hideyoshi, "RWBY. R-W-B-Y. Web anime. Really good."_

 _"Hell yeah", went Akihisa with a wide smile on his face, "It's even got a Chibi show. Called RWBY Chibi. Guess what all of the characters are? Hint: They're all chibis."_

 _"It's also got best waifu."_

 _"Oh god yeah. The best waifu."_

 _"Wanna say it?"_

 _"How about at the same time?"_

 _"Hell yeah", went Hideyoshi, "Okay, on 3. 1... 2... 3! Pyrrha!_

 _"Yang!"_

 _"What."_

 _"What."_

 _"Oh boy", said Yuuji, who quickly shunted to the side, away from the coming storm. Kouta just looked to the side and continued polishing his camera._

 _"Oh, that's funny", began Hideyoshi to Akihisa, "For a second there I thought you said that Yang was the best waifu."_

 _"Well, of course", replied Akihisa, "Yang is obviously the best waifu. I mean, have you seen her gauntlets?"_

 _"Yes, her 'gauntlets', and not the giant peckers on her chest."_

 _"Well, that's a bonus as well."_

 _"It's the only thing that she's got going on for her. Unlike the greatest waifu Pyrrha, who is the best ever."_

 _" She's also dead, therefore objectively making Yang the better waifu."_

 _" Want me to drown you in the lake over there?"_

 _"I hope you burn in hell."_

 _"I'll be taking you along with me."_

 _Yuuji just looked at_ _them, gobsmacked, "Jesus..."_

* * *

"Their interactions basically went like that for 2 weeks", said Yuuji to Minami, while Akihisa and Hideyoshi sat next to them, clearly embarrassed, "It was so infuriating."

"Hehehe", nervously chuckled Akihisa, "Please don't talk about it..."

"Yeah", said Hideyoshi, secretly wishing that he could go back in time and kill their 13 year old selves for being idiots, "It's really embarrassing."

Minami just looked at them, her eyebrows arched, "So, you too just had a waifu war?"

"It wasn't just a waifu war, my dear Minami, it was THE waifu war..."

"Facts. Please get them straight..."

Some would later say that that was the first time that they'd ever seen Minami Shimada scared stiff. Miharu would agree.


	13. Reunion

_Runnin', runnin', runnin', runnin'!_

Akihisa didn't remember how the rest of the song went.

At the moment, he didn't actually mind. It was a good motivator, that line. After all, he was currently running like heck, and it helped to remind him to not stop sprinting like a madman. A good motivator was also that, with the teachers at his school, if he got there late, he would definitely need that motivating line from that song that he couldn't remember the name and most of.

Ugh, he needed to get new batteries for his clock. Being late to school on the first day of a new year was not a good way to make a first impression.

Come to think of it, why hadn't he already gotten batteries any- Oh, yeah. He spent all of his money on Kingdom Hearts 3 the other day, didn't he?

 _Dang it, me! Why do you have to be such a video game glutton!_

 _Aw, c'mon, man, it's Kingdom Hearts with a 3! Ya know you-_

 _Terrible accents aren't gonna stop me from being ashamed of me! You! Us! Words!_

Wait a minute. He spent all of his money on a game that was, if he remembered correctly, pretty dang expensive! If almost all of his money was gone, then that meant...

Akihisa didn't stop sprinting, only to keep his feet distracted from lodging itself in his mouth.

Welp, guess he'll be having salt and sugar water for dinner tonight.

He really hoped that this wouldn't become a trend.

He kept sprinting down the road, almost hitting a few people- And actually hitting someone whilst both sprinting and not looking at the same time- Before the junior high school came into view. Kannazuki junior high. His parents had said that it wasn't exactly the cheapest place in the city, but it would do. Akihisa himself hadn't exactly read into the junior high himself (Too many distractions and NO they were not video game distractions why would you wonder that?) but from what he had seen, it was a fairly decent place, with some excellent track records for good student turnout (Well, that's what it said on the leaflet). The 14 year old boy wondered if he'd be put into the same class as his friends. He'd hoped so. It'd be lonely without-

{SMACK}

As he fell to the floor, he wondered to himself, _When did someone put a giant marshmallow in the way?_

Rubbing his head, the boy got himself up, and looked up to see that it was not in fact a giant marshmallow that he'd smacked into, when in actuality, it was a chubby girl the same age as him, with excessively long pink hair and pale skin. Akihisa recognised the girl almost immediately.

"Himeji?" he asked, not entirely sure if he was correct in his assumption.

The girl looked back to him, and quietly went, "Yoshii?"

Akihisa jumped up, a smile developing on his face, and extended his hand to the pink haired girl, "Himeji! Oh gosh, it's been so long, hasn't it?" it was true. They hadn't really talked since they were, what was it? 8? 9? When they were young.

"Y-Yeah, it's been a long time", nervously replied Himeji, as she took his hand. Once she was up from the ground, she rubbed her nose with her sleeve, and went, "H-How are you? I know we haven't talked in a long time, b-but... But...", she stopped, before covering her mouth and nose with her sleeve, and violently sneezing, a slimy trail of mucus bridging her nose to her sleeve.

Akihisa supressed a little gag, before going, "Hey, are you-"

"'M alright. Cold. I tend to get sick easily", sniffled Himeji, as she used her spare hand to pull out a tissue from her shirt pocket, and blow her nose.

"Um, Himeji, I don't think there's a bin nearby."

"Oh. Oh..."

"Er, I think there might be one in the- Hey, which school are you going too?"

"Um, K-Kannazuki Junior High."

"Oh hey, that's the same one that I'm going to!"

A look of gentle surprise came over Himeji, "Really?"

Akihisa giggled, and cheerfully said, "Yeah! This is my second year here! Is this your second year as well? How have I not noticed you around the place?"

They began to walk together, blissfully unaware to the world around them. Himeji continued the conversation, "Oh, no, I-I'm new here. This is my first day at this school. The other junior high I went to closed down."

"Really? Another one? Which one was it this time?"

"Kisaragi Junior High."

Akihisa pondered on this. He had heard about a few schools shutting down over the last few months. Fumizuki City was, well, it was a really big city. And as such, in a really big city, there would have to be a lot of school. That some of them were now shutting down, out of the blue. Well, it didn't sound too good. But Akihisa never paid these kind of things any mind. It all just seemed kinda miserable, and not nice to listen too. Why listen to something if it's just going to make you feel bad?

Akihisa broke his silence, and said, "Kisaragi? Hm. Didn't think that one would close. I heard it's a really good place."

"Yeah, it is. Well, it was. It was a good place. But now it's... It's closed down. All of the friends that I had there are moving around to other schools."

"Hey, maybe some of your friends are coming to Kannazuki as well."

Himeji smiled at this prospect, and said, "Yeah, hopefully."

Akihisa looked away from Himeji for a second, to see that they had reached the entrance gate to Kannazuki. As they walked through the gates, and towards the main entrance, Akihisa raised the previous point, "We really haven't talked much since we were little, have we?"

Himeji nodded, and after quickly running to a bin, throwing her dirty tissue into it, and then running back and wiping her hands with another tissue, she said, "We haven't really talked at all."

"Mm."

"I would like to talk to you again."

"Yeah, same-"

"OI!"

"Uh oh."

The 2 children looked behind them, to see a very annoyed, very angry teacher marching towards them.

 _Runnin', runnin', runnin', runnin'!_

About 2 minutes of wishing that the Running Man was helping them along, Akihisa and Himeji got to his classroom, "Ugh, well", went Akihisa in between pants of breath, "That... Happened... I guess."

"Um... This... Isn't... My class..." went Himeji between heavy breaths.

"Huh?"

"It's... Down there", she indicated to down the corridor.

"Oh", Akihisa couldn't help but be a little disappointed at the fact.

"B-But, I really wanna talk to you again!" stammered Himeji.

"Really?"

"Yeah!"

"I-I'd like that too", now it was Akihisa's term to stutter.

Himeji then looked like she just remembered the time, and then turned around to run to her first class, flipping herself around to look at Akihisa and meekly call out, "I'll talk to you later!" with a smile on her face.

Akihisa didn't give a verbal response. He just waved and smiled. In hindsight, he should've replied.

Akihisa walked into his classroom with a lightness in his step that he hadn't felt since Nacalie had been at his side. He looked to the classroom, and saw few familiar faces. Hideyoshi, Kouta, and Yuuji, to be more exact (There was also a bunch of guys wearing purple who were glaring daggers at him, for some reason).

Then, Akihisa thought back to Himeji, and the lightness in his footstep...

Maybe...

No.

A relationship?

No.

She's out of his league by a long shot.

She would never want to be with an idiot like him.

A relationship would never work out.


	14. A loudly quiet night

The light from the fires shined through the closed windows and blinds, and into the darkened room. The sounds of the rioters travelled and echoed throughout the room, their screams and yells seeding fear into the room's occupants. A loud, yet faint, bang was heard in the distance, a large cheer from the crowd of rioters followed, with the sounds of smashes and crashing glass accompanying them.

Akihisa didn't know how long it would last. They'd barely gotten off the streets before it all went to hell. Luckily most of them had gotten into Yuuji's home in time.

Most of them.

Hideyoshi winced again as Yuuji's mum, Sakamoto Yukino, wrapped his bloody arm in bandages (She'd tried to cover it in duct tape, before Yuuji directed her to the actual bandages. Apparently she wasn't the brightest of the bunch). Several droplets of blood stained the carpet crimson, and the bandage itself was stained red too.

He'd gotten caught by a guy about a year younger than him. Tried to get away from him, but the guy had a knife. Hideyoshi didn't get stabbed, but he got slashed in the arm. Luckily he was able to get away from the guy and get into the house before it escalated.

Well, pretty sure 'Escalated' isn't the right word to use. Pretty sure they'd crossed the line of 'Escalation' a while ago. The entire city had crossed the line of 'Escalation' at the beginning of the night.

Akihisa looked to Hideyoshi, whom was rubbing the uncomfortable looking wound on his arm. Maybe it would scar. Maybe it wouldn't. Akihisa hoped it wouldn't. Hideyoshi was too pretty to scar. If he did get a scar on his pure skin, Akihisa was pretty sure that he'd do anything in his power to repair the damage to his beautiful skin.

Huh. When Akihisa looked at the wound, he sort of remembered a metamorphosis thingy that he'd been told earlier: 'The city is an open wound, with a bandage plastered over. All it takes is for the bandage to come off, and the infection underneath would come to the surface.' Akihisa didn't get it at all, but it seemed rather negative. Akihisa didn't like to think negatively, so he tried to apply it differently: 'All we need is a plaster, and the wound will get better.' Akihisa tired to explain it in his head: Give it a little love, and Fumizuki City can start again. And the Fumizuki City of 2020 was good at starting again.

"...Rioters are moving on", Kouta appeared out of nowhere as he said that, wearing a black cloak, making it hard to see him in the darkness. Akihisa turned on his flashlight and shined it at the self certified ninja as he spoke again, "...Got bored. Everything in the street's smashed up."

"Well, that isn't, _nnngh_ ", Hideyoshi groaned as he strained a muscle in his wounded arm, "That isn't surprising."

Akihisa nodded, and asked, "You think it's safe to turn the lights on?"

"I'd give it a few more minutes", answered Yuuji, as he went to sit down with the group.

"I need to call my sister", calmly said Hideyoshi, as he got up, and got his phone out of his pocket, letting out a sharp hiss of pain as he moved his arm, "Make sure she's fine."

"Yeah, we gotcha", replied Akihisa cheerfully.

Hideyoshi left the room, with Yuuji's mum accompanying him. The 3 boys in the room could hear Hideyoshi dial his sister, and they could also hear him try to calm her down (Apparently she was not happy about him not being home in the middle of a riot. At night, to boot). The 3 boys just sat in silence, half listening to Hideyoshi's conversation, and half listening for any activity from outside.

"...Akihisa", began Kouta.

"Yeah?"

Kouta pulled out a couple of pictures. All of them featuring Hideyoshi in a cute pose.

"Not now, dude", Akihisa whispered, "Time and place... But keep them warm for me, will you?"

"...No promises", said Kouta as he tucked them away, "...Business is booming."

"For Hideyoshi pics."

"...Mm."

"I see."

"Really guys?" began Yuuji, "You know Hideyoshi's in the opposite room, right?"

"Hey, I didn't ask for them", said Akihisa, "Yet, I mean. Time and place, and all."

"Right."

A noise was then heard in front of them. In a bit of a panic, Akihisa instinctively shined his torch in that direction, thankfully only seeing Hideyoshi and Yuuji's mum standing in the doorway. Letting out a sigh of relief, Akihisa let the pretty boy talk, "My sister's fine. She's holed up back home with my parents and a few friends. She said not to go outside, and just to wait it out."

"Seems obvious", commented Yuuji.

"Yeah, well, in times like this, she worries", Hideyoshi sat with the group as he spoke, "Even if she doesn't like admitting it."

They sat in silence for a few more minutes. Yuuji's mum started turning the lights back on, seeing as how some of the other houses had started turning on their lights as well. Yuuji had advised against this, but his mum had insisted that she couldn't see anything and that she'd trip and fall, leading to a rather amusing comment from Yuuji that she trips and falls all the time, followed by a chewing out from Hideyoshi that one should respect their elders.

Silence followed them once more. After a while, Akihisa could feel the hands of boredom inappropriately feeling him up, so he shone the flashlight near his face and went, "Hey guys, wanna turn the lights out and tell scary stories?"

"""...""", the silence was his only answer.

"Aw, c'mon guys. We can turn off the lights, put the torch in the middle and circle around it. It'd be like a campfire."

Only more silence followed. Yuuji and Hideyoshi gave him an exasperated look, while Kouta just polished a camera (Where did he hide these things?).

Akihisa was disheartened by their reactions (Or lack thereof, in this case), but he tried to turn it around. He turned to Hideyoshi and asked, "Hey, Hids (Is it alright if I still call you that?), you seen any good anime recently? I've finally gotten to seeing that one film... Oh, what was it called? Um, um um um um, OH! Mary and the Witch's Familiar! Yeah, I've finally gotten around to watching it. You know, surprisingly, it isn't actually a Studio Ghibli-"

"Akihisa", began Hideyoshi. From what Akihisa could tell, the pretty boy was not having fun with the one sided conversation. Akihisa was even more so disheartened by the look on his face, leading Hideyoshi to tweeze the bridge of his nose between his fingers, and say, "I don't- _Sigh_ , Akihisa, I don't... Watch anime anymore", from the tone of his voice, it sounded like he didn't really want to hurt his feelings too much.

"What? Why not?" mission failed.

"I've been busy. I have to keep up my drama skills, I'm practising all day, and when I'm not, my parents have got me and Yuuko studying to get into a good school. And they place a hell of a lot of emphasis on 'Good'."

"'Studying for a good school'? Isn't it a bit early for you to be 'Studying to get into a good school'?"

"Not really. We're in our last year of junior high. I need to be able to get into a good school to forward my acting carrier", Hideyoshi finished it off with, "I don't wanna disappoint my parents."

"'Acting carri- Oh, c'mon, Hids. We're 15! These are meant to the best days of our-"

"You should probably start studying too, Akihisa."

"Huh?"

"You'll need to get into a good school as well", Hideyoshi muttered something about a thick head, but Akihisa was sure that it wasn't meant for him.

"Wha-"

"Akihisa, give it a break", Yuuji added in, "We can't act like kids anymore. We need to start thinking about our future, and life goals and stuff. Not what will entertain us for the next 5 minutes."

"Wha- You too, Yuuji."

"Yeah, me too. We can't act like kids anymore. We need to grow up. You need to grow up."

Akihisa didn't know what to say. He looked to Kouta for assistance, but all he got was a shrug and a nod.

"Oh", was his only reply, When did we start having to worry about our future? Aren't we still kids?

They sat in silence for longer, no one sure of what to say. Eventually, the distant sounds of rioting and chaos ceased, and one by one, the 3 boys and 1 androgynous male(?) fell to sleep.

Strangely enough, they didn't notice the drone spying on them through the window.

Or the glowing golden hue that emanated from Akihisa's hand and enveloped Hideyoshi's arm.

* * *

 **If you want a sliver of context for the rioting in this chapter, read my Progress one-shot.**


	15. Language barrier

"Okay, okay... Um... W-Wirst… De-Du! Du! Du. Augh."

It turns out that learning a new language is a smudge bit harder than one would think.

Akihisa sighed. French is not the easiest language to learn, apparently. He looked at the Google Translate page on his phone, and looked at the simple phrase. 'Wirst du mein Freund sein?' 'Will you be my friend?' In French! It didn't look like it had that many syllables in it, so how come it was so hard to remember?

Akihisa tried again, "Wirst… Du... Me-Mein! Oh c'mon!"

He slumped back on his chair, and looked back at his phone. The time on it said 11:43. Now, normally, at this time, he'd be tight and snug in bed, peacefully sleeping like the beautiful little angel that he was.

But today, was very different.

A new girl had joined his class. A girl from France. Akihisa remembered her name being 'Shimada Minami'. He'd tried talking to her earlier today, but something told him that he'd said the wrong things (Not sure what, though), so he really wanted to repair any chances of friendship between them. So, what was the best thing to do? Why, learn a sentence in her own native language and ask her to be his friend, of course! It's full proof! (If, only a tad bit racist).

Akihisa looked back to his phone, and tried again for the nth time, "Um, wrist- Wirst! AUGH!" he felt like he wanted to go full Prowl and flip a table. But then he remembered that that would make him a prick, and so he restrained himself.

Hm.

Maybe this wasn't worth it.

Maybe trying to learn a new phrase in a different language for the sake of trying to stir up a friendship with a girl from a different country with seemingly anger issues isn't worth the hassle.

Well, she did seem a bit full of herself earlier today, and a bit brash, so-

No.

No no no no no. No.

He was going to see this through. He was going to learn this phrase, ask her to be his friend, and then acquire a new friend, dammit!

He just had to remember his WWTZD bracelet. What Would Timothy Zahn Do?

He'd fix this mess, dang it. And that's what Akihisa was gonna do.

Akihisa looked at the phrase on his phone, and began again, "Wirst… Du... Mein- Wait a minute."

He looked to the language filter, and then slapped himself in the face.

It wasn't French...

IT WAS GERMAN!

He looked back to the time on his phone. This was gonna be a hell of a long night.


	16. Test of tolerance

Akihisa made his way through the crowd, back from having to use the bathroom, and towards where the rest of Class F had stationed itself in the hall. Even with all of the pairs heading into the devil's pen- A.K.A., the test of courage- Class A was still as crowded as anything, which would've been surprising considering the size of Class A's classroom (It's pretty much a freaking hall, for goodness sake. No one needs a hall for a Classroom). Then again, maybe it was only so crowded now thanks to the sudden arrival of over a hundred new students in the last week or so. People had started referring to it as the Second Wave. Dozens of people his age were coming to Fumizuki thanks to almost all of the other schools that were left in the city suddenly closing down at once. A shame really. If Class F ever goes to war again, it'll only be more difficult thanks to the suddenly inflated numbers of the other classes.

"Oof! Sorry", he muttered as he accidently shoved a female student.

"Watch it, pervert!" ugh. The girls still hated him for the peeping incident back at the training camp, even though it was all the way back in June. At this point, Akihisa couldn't say that he blamed the girls for hating him. He just wished that they'd let it go.

"Augh, crap!"

{SMACK}

Even though the ground had a fluffy carpet, it still hurt for some reason.

Akihisa was pretty sure that someone had purposely tripped him up. Oooh, when he finds that person, he'd... He didn't know. Something, maybe.

"Hey, dude", a female voice called out, "I don't think the ground is a very sanitary place to have a nap."

Akihisa looked up to the voice, to see a girl with short, messy brown hair and greyish blue eyes looking down at him, holding her hand out to him.

A few awkward moments passed, before Akihisa took her hand, and pulled himself up, "Thanks."

"No prob."

"Harrison, don't help him up", went a girl next to her, whom Akihisa recognised from back when the school year started, and he had a ESB duel with, "He's a miserable, idiotic pervert. He doesn't deserve-"

"Oh, shut up, Satou", said 'Harrison', with a tone of distain in her voice, "It's your turn to go in next, so shove off", Satou (Now Akihisa knew her name) angrily adjusted her glasses, before wandering off through the crowd. Harrison then looked to Akihisa and went, "Sorry about her. Being a 4 eyed chauvinist bitch with a stick up her-"

"Language!"

"-Does that to- Oh c'mon! It's appropriate. It's appropriate to the situation. Or the person. Whatever."

Another voice then called out, "Amy?" before the person whom owned the voice was revealed. A rather frail looking boy with spiky brown hair and blue eyes walked up to Harrison, "Amy, there you are. The girl in Yuuko's circle with glasses jut went in with one of their peons. We're up...", the boy looked at Akihisa, and saw that their hands were still clamped together, "Huh, I didn't know you were his inamorata-"

"Oh, no! Oh god no!" went 'Amy' as she let go of Akihisa's hand rather speedily.

"Heheh, relax, relax. I kid", the boy said.

"Um", Akihisa began, "I'm Yosh-"

"Spare yourself the introduction, mate", began the boy, "I already know who you are. Hell, everyone in the Academy knows who you are. The great Yoshii Akihisa", he threw his hands in the air flamboyantly, "The fabled 'King of idiots'! The rube whom follows the spiritual ley line towards audacity, and the most dense individual since Dwayne Johnson, A.K.A the Rock!" he finished, flexing his non-existent muscles while doing it.

"Riley!" went Amy upon seeing Akihisa look hurt, "That's not a very nice thing to say!"

"Yes, well, we've been siblings for long enough to know that I'm not a very nice ruddy person", 'Riley' said smugly. When he saw that Akihisa was upset by it, he sighed, and said, "Sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything by it. I was just repeating what I'd heard everyone else say."

"Still a bit much", said Amy with an annoyed look on her face.

"Yeah, I guess."

Amy looked to Akihisa, and patted his shoulder, "Sorry 'bout that. Riley's a bit... Insensitive at times. And by at times, I mean all of the time", she then gestured to him, "Um, Yoshii, this is Riley Harrison. My brother, who is also kind of an asshole-"

"No objections here", Riley said with a moody expression.

"-I'm Amy. Amy Harrison."

"I'm... Not needing of an introduction, I guess", said Akihisa. He then saw Riley's bad mood, and asked, "What's up with you? You seem a bit... Placid?"

"Do you even know what that word means?" asked Riley, with an exasperated look on his face.

"Nope, but did I use it right."

"Heh. Nope", a smile seemed to emerge on his face.

"Oh", Akihisa wasn't bothered by it, "Anyways, what's up with you? You seem a bit moody?"

"Ugh. I'm just failing to see the point of this", Riley gestured to the entrance to the test of courage.

Akihisa paused for a second, before going, "What, the crowd?"

"Wha- No. I mean this whole test of courage thing! I mean, what is the bloody point?"

"To... Test our courage, I guess?" Akihisa would be lying if he said that he remembered the entire point of this whole experience. Something about an 'Adjustment failure', or whatever. Maybe?

"Yeah, but how does that make sense? Answer: It doesn't. There are about a million different things that we could be doing right now, instead of wasting our time on this rubbish."

"Like what?"

"Like drawing, and... I'll get back to you when I think of a million things."

"...You don't get to talk much, do you?"

"No, not really. I mean, I do talk to my sister, but that's about-"

A white haired boy then shoved Riley onto the floor, elbowing him in the shoulder along the way, "Whoops."

Riley glared daggers at him, "You know, Bando, you have eyes. You can use them."

"Yeah, but where's the fun in that?" said 'Bando', "'Sides, not like I'm hurting anyone."

"You hurt me."

"You're not people. You don't count. You're not chic enough", Bando then saw Akihisa, and glared, "Oh. You."

"Um, yes. Me", Akihisa replied nervously. Judging from the look on Riley's face, he thought that maybe he shouldn't have said anything.

He got his answer when the white haired boy shoved him, almost causing him to fall to the ground. Bando angrily spoke, "Yeah, you remember that whole learning camp thing? Where we went on a crusade to see a bunch of naked chicks? Yeah, you promised I'd get to see my Yuuko's tits, yet I got a face full of rotting bags to look at!"

Akihisa regained his footing, and said, "Hey, how was I- Wait, 'Your Yuuko'?"

"Yeah", began Riley, as Amy helped him up, "Pretty sure that Yuuko was sick or something during that whole mess-"

"Shut up", Bando snapped.

Riley didn't say anything more. He just glared at Bando, and bawled his hands into fists.

Akihisa then said, "Um, I wasn't even doing- Well, leading, I guess- That whole gender war thing for the sole reason of... Yeah", that was only a half lie, "That whole mess wasn't meant to happen. It just got so complicated and chaotic and-"

"I don't care about that", scolded Bando, "I wanted to see the titties, and yet I get a used and rotting gym bag as a sub-"

"Bando", went a girl near him, "Let's go somewhere more", she glared at the 3 new acquaintances as she said the last word, "Private."

"...Fine", said Bando, whom then smirked to the 3 as he shoved his way through the crowd, "See you 3 faggots later."

The crowd around the 3 was left in murmurs when Bando left. It seemed that they were starting to find a new person to hate.

"AUGH, I HATE THAT NARCISSISTIC AIRHEADED IDIOT!" yelled Riley. Nobody stopped him from yelling, "That arsehole thinks he's all the shit because he's in Class A! He thinks he's all that because he's in Yuuko's favour! Well, sod 'im! I- AUGH! Words fail to emphasise my anger! I need a pillow!" someone threw him a pillow, and he ended up smashing it against his face, and screaming into it. After a long, sustained minute, he chucked the pillow back to the person who gave it to him, and calmly said, "Thank you. I'm all better now."

Riley looked to Akihisa, whom was himself glaring daggers at the place where Bando left, making the people around that area feel exceptionally uncomfortable, "You know, I've got a feeling that me and him aren't going to get along too well."

"Huh. You know, I'd always figured you to be the placid one."

"Do you even know what that word means?"

"Yes, and before you ask, yes, I used it in the right context."

Akihisa looked back around the crowded Class A hall, and decided to say out loud, "I- I mean, me and my friends- Didn't even start that war over peeping. That was meant to be a last resort. We were trying to find a blackmailer, who was blackmailing me into not talking to any of the girls in my class. But then said girls started punishing us for stuff we didn't do, and then... Yeah, it kinda went downhill from there", he didn't think it was necessary to talk about his role in those downhill events. Everyone probably knew already.

"Wasn't that blackmailer person the psycho lesbian in Class D?"

"Shimizu?"

"Call her whatever you like, mate."

"How'd you- Wait, no. Never mind. Dumb question. You probably-"

"Took part in that madness at the training camp. Pfft. No. God no. Amy and I stayed well out of that nonsense. Complete waste of time", Riley looked at Akihisa, "Sorry."

Akihisa decided not to scold him for not protecting his pride as a man, and said, "Um, I should-"

"Yeah. Right. Go to your compatriots, and-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" went a scream from the corridor. No one was sure if it was he who shall not be named or someone else.

"Aaaand that's our cue", said Amy, as she tugged her brother's hand, "C'mon. Let's go fail miserably."

"Right, right", said Riley. As they left through the crowd, he went, "Maybe talk to you again, Yoshii?"

"Yeah, sure", Akihisa hesitantly replied. He wasn't entirely sure if the siblings heard. He wasn't entirely sure if he wanted them too. That Riley guy kinda seemed like a jerk.

 _Oh well_ , he thought, as he made his way through the crowd to Class F, _Always a chance to get to know them better. Well, unless the FFF tries to hang me for talking to a girl. Again._

The Harrison siblings didn't last even 5 minutes. They got jumped by a bald 3rd year wearing hideous eyeliner. Who knew that tacky makeup could be so hideously horrifying?


	17. End of the beginning

He had started the day blind. His eyes had been impaired by the morning light, before they had refocused, to let him see the world around him.

Seeing his 23 year old sister on top of him wasn't exactly the best way to start the morning. Though at this point, it had become more of a morning ritual. Not that it was a good one.

"Hey, Akira, what date is it today?"

"October 3rd."

"Right. Thanks", he had guessed that this was the right date, judging from the calendar that Akira had brought a few days ago, but he just wanted to make sure.

He looked at the space where it said October the 3rd. It was empty. Nothing of importance. Just another Monday.

Really?

Then why did he feel so eager to start the day?

Why'd he feel an air of excitement?

Why'd he have a gentle spring in his step?

"You definitely seem to be quite effervescent today, little brother", observed Akira, as she sat on the sofa, observing her younger sibling prance about their small home.

"Yep. Don't know why, but I feel utterly lively", smiled Akihisa as he adjusted his tie and shirt, ready for the beginning of a new day. He grabbed his bag, and asked, "Hey, Akira, where'd you put the spare key to the house?"

"In the draw with the cutlery", she said, before getting up herself, "I gonna go get a shower", then she started taking her dressing gown off.

Right in the middle of the room.

"EEEEWWWW! Don change in here! Go into the bathroom!" yelled Akihisa, slightly annoyed at his sister, both at her utter lack of common decency, and for breaking his mojo.

"Aw, you're no fun", muttered Akira as she made her way to the bathroom, "Have fun, Aki", she chirped, before shutting the bathroom door behind her.

Sighing to himself, Akihisa walked to the draw in the kitchen section of the tiny apartment, and opened the draw. He shifted through the messy draw, trying to find the spare key. It would've probably been better to just have left them on the side. Oh well, hindsight is 20/20, they say.

He continued to shift his hand through the draw, past the forks and spoons and occasional sporks, until, Yes, there was the key, right next to... A... Knife...

...

No.

NO.

That part of his life- A part of his life when he was cold, and lonely, and at his lowest point- Was over. It'd been over for years.

Heh. It was kinda funny. Back then, during that time, he didn't exactly have many people he could call friends.

Now, a new chapter of his life had begun. And this time, he had friends that'd be there till the end.

Together, they were unstoppable.

He grabbed the key, and made his way to the door, slipping his shoes on, and grabbing his bag, and opening the door. Yelling, "Bye", to his sister, unsure of if she heard, he walked through the doorway, and closed the door behind him.

With that, he ushered in a new chapter in his life.


	18. Epilogue: A sudden beginning

_Ah_

 _Ug_

 _Ba_

A coherent thought couldn't be made. The child was too young to know how too.

The child- Having only just escaped from his mother's womb- Stayed laid on the soft surface below him, a blanket covering him as he looked around him. The child had no name yet, and knew not who any of the people he had only just met in his hours long experience amongst the world outside of the womb. All he knew was that he was in a large white box, and in what those tall people had called a crib, with a shiny, yet somehow invisible wall around him, with many others like him also in the large white box, and also in these so called cribs.

This was a strange new experience for the child. It had not know any other life except within his dark home, but now the world around him was cold and bright and uncomfortable. The child was confused. He knew not why he was in this white box, or why there were so many people around him that looked just like him, or why everything was so bright, or why he had been confined to these strange, yet somewhat soft materials, that wrapped around his head and body.

Then, a noise came. The child's eyes instantly shot to the origin of the noise, to see a tall person standing near his crib. Her food hole was curved upwards, and her eyes were staring down at the child. The stranger was wearing some sort of material, like the child, but parts of it seemed to glow what the child had learnt was purple.

Strangely, the child felt no fear from the stranger. He seemed to feel some sort of comfortable chill, yet also a warmth that it somehow recognised. But from where, the child did not know.

The stranger reached out with her arms, and gently picked the child up. The child could see that the stranger had a strange shape on her forehead. The child was scared, so he started to cry. Bu the stranger began to coo him, "Shh. Shh. It's okay, it's okay", the stranger whispered, "You're safe. I'm not gonna hurt you. I would never hurt you, okay?"

The child calmed down. He was now curious.

"Aw, look at you", said the stranger, "So beautiful. So peaceful", she grabbed the child tightly, "I wish I could hold you like this forever, my little angel", the stranger then looked saddened, "But I can't. I can't be with you forever. I can't stay by your side forever and ever. I've... I've done a lot of bad. I've done so many bad things in my life. Bad things that I can't ever forget. Bad things that I don't deserve forgiveness for. But you", she smiled again, "You, my beautiful, peaceful angel, who the world will never deserve, you will do so much good in the world. You will grow up to be strong, and kind, and brilliant, and beautiful, and stubborn, and frustrating, but oh so wonderful. A perfect being on this sinful world. There will be hard times, yes, but you will come out so much better from them. So much more perfect. So much more you. Your love will be the greatest blessing on this world, and you will be loved by so many others. You are the greatest blessing this world has been. The greatest blessing that I have ever been given, and..."

The stranger seemed to hesitate.

"I... I don't know how else I'm suppose to say this, but... I guess what I'm trying to say is that, I love you. No matter what happens, I will always love you. So please, don't ever forget that."

The stranger leaned in, and planted her lip against the child's forehead. The child wriggled under this, but he did not struggle. He seemed to remember this feeling before, but from where, he did not know.

The stranger pulled away from the child, and placed him back in the crib. The stranger then saw a white piece of fabric on the crib, and grabbed a small black stick that was attached to it. She then scraped the black stick against the white fabric, and reattached the black stick to it.

The stranger then looked back to the child, and said, "To think I will never see you again."

She then smiled, and turned around, stepping up, and moving to a corner of the white box, where a brown rectangle was cut into the middle of it. The stranger then looked back to the child.

"I love you. Bye."

And with that, she was gone.

The child was confused. Who was the stranger? Why did she look familiar?

However, now, in his young age, the memory started to fade away, and the child drifted into a slumber.

On the edge of the child's crib, a piece of paper hung from the plastic edge. On it, where it asked for the name, something had been written down.

 _Akihisa_


End file.
